Internal crisis will consume PDP, says Odumakin

Afenifere Publicity Secretary Mr Yinka Odumakin has said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be consumed by its internal crisis, ahead of the 2015 general elections.

He said that more attention and energy would be deployed by President Goodluck Jonathan to crisis management, instead of governance.

He told The Nation that the sudden emergence of the PDP Governors Forum, which recently selected Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio as sitting chairman, has tilted the balance of power in favour of some vested interests.

Odumakin, who spoke with our reporter on the state of the nation in Lagos, said: “The PDP Governors Forum and the Amaechi’s Governors Forum do not have the interest of Nigerians at heart, but they were founded for power struggle. There is none that is about the interest of the people of Nigeria but the power that be. The fora have nothing to do about the welfare of Nigerians.

“The two groups are for themselves . It is the night of long knives; the wolves are out and they want to devour us. What is going on in the PDP is a personal fight between the wolves and the masses often pay for such internal crisis.

“Those who take the people’s patient for cowardice, and when they protest they can use guns to chase them off the streets should know that, one day, the situation will change. We can actually see what is going on across the country today when the people are pushed to the wall. They confront the authorities force for force.”

Speaking on the recent merger of the opposition political parties, Odumakin said the most important issue is practical leadership. He recalled that political parties, which had merged in the past lacked the courage to fulfill their vision.